PESHAWAR – Reports claiming that newly-elected Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur ban on screening of Pashto-language films to curb terrorism and obscenity are false.
The claim is false. No such decision has been taken, as of now. Claim “Ali Amin Gandapur has banned Pashto films in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to prevent obscenity and terrorism,” wrote a user on Facebook on March 7. The post has been liked over 4,000 times, and shared 159 times, so far.
Similar claims were shared here. Officials, cinema owners, and producers confirm that Pashto cinema has not been prohibited from being shown in the province.
Muhammad Ali Saif, the advisor to the chief minister for information, confirmed over the phone to Geo Fact Check that no official notification has been released yet. Similarly, Ikram Khatana, the social media head of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, also stated that the online claims are not true.
Separately, Facts reached out to two cinema owners in Peshawar, Arshad Khan of Arshad Cinema and Salhe Muhammad of Sabrina Cinema. Both said they have not received any information of a ban on Pashto movies.
Muzafar Khan, a producer in Peshawar, also confirmed the same. “I also saw such claims,” Khan said, “So I went to the cinema this morning and found out that there is no [ban].”
